Rebels handle Cal State Fullerton, 77-68

The whistles seemed to come every possession in the second half, and it was clear Saturday’s basketball game would be decided at the free throw line.

And it was UNLV guard Jovan Mooring who helped decide it.

He made 10 of 11 free throws during a crucial stretch and scored 12 consecutive points for the Rebels, who held off Cal State Fullerton to win 77-68 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“I felt like we had a lot of chances where we could beat them off the dribble and convert on plays,” Mooring said. “So I just wanted to try to get to the line as much as possible. I’m real good at driving to the basket, so I wanted to continuously put pressure on the defense.”

This was the 200th career victory for first-year coach Marvin Menzies. Menzies previously coached New Mexico State, where Menzies went 198-111.

“That’s not me, it’s the staff, the players, it’s your whole family,” Menzies said. “I get the credit for it.”

As for Mooring, he scored all of his points during that late second-half stretch for the Rebels (2-1). His scoring spree helped the Rebels go from a 51-48 lead to 63-54 advantage with 3:41 left.

UNLV led by as many as 10 points at 64-54, then converted all eight free throws in the final minute to keep Fullerton (2-2) from getting too close.

Jalen Poyser led UNLV with 14 points, and Kris Clyburn added 13.

The Rebels limited Fullerton guard Tre’ Coggins to 10 points below his season average. He scored 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting (3 of 12 from the 3-point arc) for the Titans, who were led by Lionheart Leslie’s 21 points to go with 10 rebounds.

This was a preliminary-round game in the Global Sports Classic. The Rebels next host Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. Tuesday in another GSC game.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.